FOLLOWING A DISCUSSION OF THE THEORIES OF PARENTAL RESISTANCE TO PROBATION SERVICES REVEALED IN A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE, RESULTS FROM A QUESTIONNAIRE ADMINISTERED TO A NONPROBABILITY SAMPLE OF 33 MALE AND 33 FEMALE PROBATION OFFICERS IN THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA-WILMINGTON AREA ARE CONSIDERED. SUBJECTS WERE PRESENTED WITH CASE MATERIAL WHICH ILLUSTRATED THE RESISTANCE OF PARENTS TO DISCUSSING AND WORKING ON FAMILY PROBLEMS. ALL SUBJECTS WERE PRESENTED WITH THE SAME CASE MATERIAL, AND THE QUESTIONNAIRE SUBSEQUENTLY PRESENTED WAS DESIGNED TO ELICIT THEIR RESPONSES TO THE CASE MATERIAL IN TERMS OF THEIR ORIENTATION TO THE CONCEPT OF PARENTAL RESISTANCE, THEIR PREFERENCES FOR HANDLING THE PROBLEM, AND THEIR EXPECTATIONS ABOUT SUCCESS IN HELPING THE FAMILY TO REVEAL AND WORK ON PROBLEMS. THE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT THE PROBATION OFFICERS IN THIS STUDY TENDED TO ASSOCIATE RESISTANCE TO PROBATION SERVICES WITH PROBLEMATIC INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY FUNCTIONING. INDIVIDUAL OR FAMILY CASEWORK, TREATMENT, OR THERAPY WAS THE MEANS MOST OFTEN EMPLOYED TO DIMINISH RESISTANCE. THE OFFICERS WERE NOT GENERALLY OPTIMISTIC, HOWEVER, ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR APPROACH IN DIMINISHING RESISTANCE TO FURTHER HELP; THUS, SOME CONFUSION IS BELIEVED INDICATED ABOUT THE CAUSE OF AND MEANS OF REDUCING PARENTAL RESISTANCE TO JUVENILE PROBATION HELP. IN LIGHT OF THE PROPOSED THEORY, AN ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT MODEL FOR JUVENILE COURTS IS PROPOSED, AND A ROLE FOR PROBATION OFFICERS CONSIDERED MORE REALISTIC IS DEFINED IN SOME DETAIL. TABLE OF DATA ARE INCLUDED, AND THE APPENDIX INCLUDES A SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE AND COPIES OF THE CASE MATERIAL GIVEN TO THE SUBJECTS. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS ALSO PROVIDED. (RCB)